Earl Cooks Spaghetti Squash with Parmesan & Butter Sauce

Three ingredients! That's It! Cooking doesn't get much easier. Add to that that is is my wife's favorite fall food and one that bakes unattended while your life goes on, and you'll wonder why you don't make this more often! Autumn is loaded with goodies from the harvest and squash is is in abundance. Take 1 spaghetti squash. 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and a stick of butter and you're almost there! Here are some pictures of the process.

Whole, with stem end removed

Let Me Begin by saying that spaghetti squash is tough to cut...very tough! Using a long serrated knife, I remove the stem end. I then place the cut end on the cutting board and attack it from the flower end (the other end). With that same knife, I cut right through the little indentation, rocking back and forth cutting down as I go. Keeping both hands ON TOP of the blade is important here both as a safety precaution and to assist in the cutting.

Halved-Season with salt & pepper

When Halved, I place halves cut side up for seasoning. Salt & pepper is all that is required and the moisture from the squash allows them to stick. I then add extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to a sheet pan to cover, then add salt and pepper the oil.

Cut side down in oiled, seasoned pan

Place the cut side down in the pan and place in a preheated, 350℉ oven for 50-60 minutes.

Out of the oven after baking

When you remove the squash from the oven it should look something like this on the rind. Crisp makes it easy to remove and makes sure the flesh is tender.

In all it's golden color

Here is what it looks like after baking. It is now ready to be turned into spaghetti! Simply take a fork and draw it pole-to-pole and the flesh becomes strands. I made a simple sauce placing shredded butter and Parmesan in the bottom of a bowl and placed the squash on top. the residual heat melted all 3 together! I always feel squash of any kind begs to be topped with fresh cracked pepper, so I added a bit more and it was so good, my wife took the leftovers for HER lunch! Now you know why she is known as "TURKEY"!

print recipe

Earl Cooks Spaghetti Squash

by Earl Cooks October-26-2017

This recipe has just 3 wonderful ingredients and is almost hands off!

Ingredients

• 1 Spaghetti Sqush
• 1 stick (¼ pound) Butter
• ½ cup Parmesan Cheese(Freshly Grated
• to taste Salt
• to taste Pepper (freshly cracked)
• 2 TBLS Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Instructions

Let Me Begin by saying that spaghetti squash is tough to cut...very tough! Using a long serrated knife, I remove the stem end. I then place the cut end on the cutting board and attack it from the flower end (the other end). With that same knife, I cut right through the little indentation, rocking back and forth cutting down as I go. Keeping both hands ON TOP of the blade is important here both as a safety precaution and to assist in the cutting.When Halved, I place halves cut side up for seasoning. Salt & pepper is all that is required and the moisture from the squash allows them to stick. I then add extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to a sheet pan to cover, then add salt and pepper the oil.Place the cut side down in the pan and place in a preheated, 350℉ oven for 50-60 minutes.When you remove the squash from the oven it should look crisp, which makes it easy to remove and makes sure the flesh is tender.After baking, it is now ready to be turned into spaghetti! Simply take a fork and draw it pole-to-pole and the flesh becomes strands. I made a simple sauce placing shredded butter and Parmesan in the bottom of a bowl and placed the squash on top. the residual heat melted all 3 together! I always feel squash of any kind begs to be topped with fresh cracked pepper, so I added a bit more and it was so good, my wife took the leftovers for HER lunch! Now you know why she is known as "TURKEY"!

Details

Prep time: 15 minsCook time: 50 minsTotal time: 1 hour 10 minsYield: 2 Servings (main course)

Earl Cooks Freezer to Plate Orecchiette Pasta & Marsala Sauce for Your Chicken

I know, this isn't a 'recipe', it's a box but I  said I would revisit the "Freezer to Plate" brand of sauce for use with your frozen chicken using some slight modifications, and I think it went well. I tried a new flavor, Marsala, with  Orecchiette pasta this go round.

What I changed

I used just 2 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves rather than the 4 the box recommends. I also used a smaller glass baking dish (8"x8" not 9"x13") and cooked it for an hour. I find that at our altitude, pasta in the oven doesn't cook as fast as wherever the recipe was tested.

What We Liked

The chicken was plump and juicy, It is a dish you need not pay much attention to. Once you do the 5-minute prep, just bake it until done and serve. It was plenty for the 2 of us and more than enough for my wife. I will be finishing her leftovers for my lunch!

What We Didn't

The brown sauce was somewhat unappealing to my wife, though I didn't care, but the sauce was rather bland. We don't drink or cook with wine, so the flavor was unfamiliar and came from a tiny pouch. And again I would have liked the pasta to be a bit less al denté

Conclusion

This is a great weeknight meal when you don't want to (or forget to) prepare in advance. Take the chicken from the freezer, no defrosting and follow the box instructions. We probably won't buy the Marsala flavor again, but I will try to have one of their flavors on hand for an effortless meal.

Educational Stuff (well that's new!)

Orecchiette is a variety of pasta typical of Apulia, a region of southern Italy. Their name comes from their shape, which resembles a small ear. Pronunciation: oh-reck-ee-ET-tay